Thursday, September 05, 2013

The Kingdom of God: A Baptist Expression of Biblical & Covenant Theology by Jeff Johnson

The blog's readers may well remember that I once recommended Jeff Johnson's book The Fatal Flaw of the Theology Behind Infant Baptism as the best I have read on the subject. I also described it as a very helpful book in understanding Covenant Theology from a Reformed Baptist perspective.

Now, however, Jeff Johnson has written a book that is soon to be published and that is devoted entirely to an explanation of Covenant Theology from a distinctively Reformed Baptist perspective. Here is the information about the book:

Is there a central plot to the Bible? And if so, why is the Bible divided into two different testaments? Moreover, how do these two testaments relate to each other? No doubt, it can be overwhelming to traverse the various covenants of the Bible. And it can be difficult to understand the unity and diversity of the Old and New Testaments. The Kingdom of God: A Baptist Expression of Biblical & Covenant Theology explains why the maze of the Old and New Testaments cannot be properly navigated or understood without a knowledge of the dual (law and gospel) nature of the Abrahamic Covenant. For the law of the Old Covenant and the grace of the New Covenant flow out of the Abrahamic Covenant and are wonderfully reunited in the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, out of the earlier dichotomy comes the later unity of the gospel message.

Here is a preview of the contents of the book:

Contents
Introduction

PART ONE

THE KINGDOM OF GOD & BAPTIST COVENANT THEOLOGY

1. The Dichotomous Nature
of the Abrahamic Covenant
2. The Wording of the Abrahamic Covenant
3. Abraham’s Two Seeds
4. Abraham’s Physical Seed
5. Abraham’s Spiritual Seed
6. New Testament Affirmation
7. The Dual Covenantal Framework
of the Book of Romans
8. The Separation of Law & Gospel

PART TWO

THE KINGDOM OF GOD & BIBLICAL THEOLOGY

9. The Rise of the Kingdom
10. The Fall of the Kingdom
11. The Hope of the Kingdom
12. The Hope of the Kingdom Preserved
13. The Promise to Restore the Kingdom
14. The High Cost of Restoring the Kingdom
15. The Priest of the Kingdom
16. The King of the Kingdom
17. The Inauguration of the Kingdom
18. The Consummation of the Kingdom

Here is what one respected Reformed Baptist scholar has to say about the book:

“On the many books that exist on covenant theology, rare are those that are accessible to neophytes while at the same time instructing the well read student on the subject. This one does both. If Jeffrey Johnson’s first book, The Fatal Flaw, explained what Baptist covenant theology is not, The Kingdom of God explains what it is. In my view, the most important contribution of this work is to bring us the history of salvation through all the biblical covenants in a Reformed Baptist perspective. The deeper treatment that Jeffrey Johnson gives to the Abrahamic Covenant in this work is one of the clearest statements I have read. After you finish reading it, you will have a clearer view of the big picture of the kingdom of God.”

Pascal Denault
Author of The Distinctiveness of Baptist Covenant Theology

I am told the book hopefully will be available by December. If you want to be on the email list to be one of the first to hear when the book is ready, you can sign up at the 1689 Federalism website here.

Personally, I can't wait to read this book, and I hope all the blog's readers will want to read it as well. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks and months.

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"Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." Hebrews 13:20-21